


Distilled Pain: A Collection

by 80sGayTrashGoblin



Category: Voltron Force (2011), Voltron: Lion Force (1984)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Asphyxiation, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Caffeine Addiction, Caffeine Withdrawal, Chases, Decapitation, Delirium, Does he die? you decide, Don't Try This At Home, Drabble Collection, Dubious Medical Practices, Electrocution, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explosions, Gen, Graphic Description of Injuries, Hallucinations, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Torture, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Keith (Voltron) Whump, M/M, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Character Death, Non-Consensual Touching, Now With Pictures!, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Rape/Non-con, Pre-Relationship, Robeasts (Voltron), Solitary Confinement, Suicidal Thoughts, Tagged worse than it is most of the time, Torture, Whump, Whumptober 2019, lotor is a dick, random drule blokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 14
Words: 6,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26295304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/80sGayTrashGoblin/pseuds/80sGayTrashGoblin
Summary: The author has acquired the Whumptober 2019 prompt list and is going to be writing some drabbles for each day.Each drabble has a companion art piece that will be posted to my Tumblr, which is the same as my Ao3 handle. Also, it's almost all Keith whump because I have no self control.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	1. Shaky Hands

**Author's Note:**

> I'll have warnings at the beginning of every drabble.
> 
> Warning: description of a caffeine addiction

Caffeine was like unicorn's blood. It gives you the power to become closer to immortality, with increased energy and productiveness, but shortens your lifespan. You get more done, but you feel a heaviness on your bones after a while, a feeling of tiredness that never goes away.

Keith stood in front of the mirror, looking at his reflection. He looked exhausted; deep bags under his eyes, pale skin, dull eyes. And he knew the others were concerned about him. He could feel their stares on his back when he left a room.

He was fine though. Sure, he felt a bone-deep tiredness, and his head sometimes felt light, and he can't get any sleep naturally anymore, but he's probably fine. The Drule kingdoms weren't going to stop so that Keith could get more sleep, and Allura won't stop sleepwalking any time soon, so he needed to be able to stay awake for as long as possible.

His hands shook. When did they start shaking? Or more accurately, when did they not shake? He's always been shaking, as if his body can't contain the energy he's getting. Or as if it's his body breaking down from what he's doing to it.

He's exhausted, burning the candle of his life by both ends. But the Drule won't stop for him. Neither will he.

Keith sighed, mindful of his shaking hands as he poured himself a cup of coffee and dumped a Red Bull in it. His time was gonna run out eventually, but he's gonna make the most of it while he's here.


	2. Explosion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: graphic description of injuries and the aftermath of an explosion.

Keith and Pidge stood in the galra base on Itera, sneaking into the tech room while Lance, Hunk and Allura distracted the galra in the front. Normally, Keith would let Pidge go in on his own, but Lance was getting a bad feeling about Pidge going in alone, so Keith went along with him. 

“The door’s open,” Pidge said, and they nodded at each other, Keith pulling out his blaster at the ready. He spun around ready to fire, but paused at what he saw. 

The room was empty, one big console inside the only thing there. The two of them slowly entered, and jumped when the door behind them shut on them. 

“Goddamn it,” Keith allowed himself one moment to swear before the screen flickered on. 

Lotor’s face appeared on the screen, his arrogant grin as punchable as ever. “Hello, Pidge,” he said, the call clearly a recording. “You’ve been a thorn in my side since the beginning, blowing up my bases and messing with my technology. Well now, it’s time for you to go.” 

Keith’s eyes widened as he heard steady beeping. Without a word, he grabbed Pidge, breaking through the door and throwing Pidge before the bomb went off. 

The last thing he heard before the explosion was Pidge desperately shouting his name. 

* * *

Pidge felt more than heard the explosion. His bones rattled, and he hit the ground hard, shrapnel grazing his arm. 

He thought he was in pain, before he saw Keith. 

“Keith!” Pidge shouted, and Keith tried to get up. But there were things making that difficult. His helmet was gone, who knows where by now, and he was bleeding profusely from his head and from his mouth. He was cut in a whole bunch of places by shrapnel, but what really stood out was the very large shard of metal currently impaling his stomach. Blood was dripping onto the ground as he shook from the effort of trying to get up. 

Pidge scrambled over to the commander, wiggling his way under Keith’s shoulder so that some of his weight was on him. “C’mon Chief, we’ve gotta get you out of here.” 

Keith shuddered, coughing blood and falling back onto the ground with a wet squelch. “Go,” he muttered. “Go get the others.” 

“But what about you?!” Pidge cried, fat tears rolling down his face. 

Keith just smiled, that small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll be okay,” he lied. “Just go get the others.” 

“Bullshit!” Pidge grabbed Keith’s arm again, hauling him up so that he leaned on Pidge’s shoulder. “I’m not going to leave you to die!”

“Pidge.” Keith pulled himself, his hands firmly on Pidge’s shoulders despite how much they shook. “The others have med kits, and you can’t carry me. Go get them. I’ll be fine.” 

Pidge sobbed, but stood up, running to where the others are, hoping that he didn’t just leave his brother to die. 


	3. Delirium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This drabble references another fic of mine (https://archiveofourown.org/works/25641355) so you might want to read it in advance, and be warned.
> 
> Warnings: description of caffeine withdrawal, vaguely referenced past rape/non-con

Lance sighed, holding Keith close as he shivered next to him, despite it being fairly warm. He was fiddling with the edge of his blanket, and his eyes were glazed over, unseeing of the world in front of him.

Keith and Lance struck a deal that Lance would quit smoking if Keith quit using caffeine. The thing is, Lance quit smoking months ago, and the fact that Keith didn't notice showed just how out of it he was. He did that on purpose, because he couldn't help Keith through his withdrawal if Lance was also going through withdrawal.

Keith whimpered, burying his face into Lance's sweater. He was shaking, and Lance hugged Keith tighter, hoping that by keeping him close, he could stop Keith from seeing whatever he was seeing.

"Lance," Keith muttered, curling his shaking fingers into his sweater. "Don't let him in. Don't let him in. Please."

"Keith, he's not here," Lance muttered back, hoping it was getting through. "It's just you and me, in your room in the castle, remember?"

"I can feel his hands on me, around my neck," Keith whimpered, and Lance froze, feeling tears soaking into his sweater. "Get him off, get him away, get him out."

Keith started to thrash, and Lance quietly shushed him, running one of his hands through Keith's hair. "Jack's not here, I promise. He's dead, remember? He's gone, and is never coming back. It's just you and me in your room, okay?"

Lance's words didn't seem to be getting through, as he kept muttering to himself. So Lance pulled off his jacket, and wrapped it around Keith.

He stilled instantly, looking up at Lance with wide eyes. "Lance…"

"There, now he can't reach you, because he isn't here." He pulled Keith back into a hug, who was now calmer. "You're only seeing him because of the caffeine withdrawal. You're safe with me."

Keith was quiet for a moment, before asking quietly, "You promise?"

"I promise."

Keith sighed, falling limp onto Lance. His eyes slid shut, and soon he started snoring.

Lance wiggled, scooting them so that they were laying on the bed and so that Lance's back hurt less. He pressed a gentle kiss to Keith's hair, something he would've never done had Keith been awake, and let himself relax.

It was amazing how much Keith trusted him, even after everything that's happened to him. It only made Lance more determined to keep him safe, even if he was too much of a coward to ever admit his feelings.

As long as Keith was safe. That's what matters.


	4. Human Shield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, it's another ambiguous ending.
> 
> Warning: graphic descriptions of injuries

Keith shuddered, the damp rock of their prison cell chilling his bones. Pidge was curled up to his side, Hunk on Pidge’s other side holding him close. Lance was curled up on Keith’s other side, Sven draped on Lance’s side. 

Keith’s arm still throbbed from the Drule brand. 

Their quiet peace didn’t last long. The door to their cell opened, and four guards entered, pushing and dragging them up and out of the cell and through the hallways. 

They were pushed into some sort of armory, given a few minutes to talk and suit up, before being thrust into the arena. They were faced with cheering galra, and a massive monster hulking in front of them. 

Keith just clutched his sword close and prayed that they would all get out of there.

* * *

Pidge grit his teeth, stamping down his fear as he watched the monster lumber towards them. Clutching two daggers in his hands, he started running to the side, his training kicking in. The monster was swinging wildly, throwing rocks and debris everywhere. 

Lance was shooting at the thing, although he was missing shots because he was running. Hunk had a giant hammer he was wildly swinging around, Sven was just running, looking for the right opportunity to fire, and Keith was nimbly dodging the rocks, more focused on making sure everyone was safe.

Pidge saw an opportunity, and took it, running up to stab the beast in the leg and running back. The monster roared, taking the opportunity to swing with it’s long arm, it was gonna hit him, why can’t he move-

He felt hands, shoving him to the side. The arm went right over him, hitting-

“KEITH!!” 

Keith fell over, and the monster quickly moved on as Lance finally hit the damn thing. Pidge crawled over, seeing the damage it had done. Deep cuts in Keith’s chest, blood covering his chest, dripping onto the dirt floor of the arena. Pidge tried to stem the blood flow, and it stained his hands red. 

“C’mon Keith, you’ll make it,” Pidge cried, his tears mixing with the blood on Keith’s chest. “You’ve gotta make it. We’ve gotta get out of here.” 

Sven ran over, pulling off his jacket and wrapping it around Keith. “He’ll be alright, Pidge,” Sven said, his voice unsteady. 

Hunk picked him up, and Pidge felt the rumble in his bones as the monster ate the dirt. He was covered in so much blood, and surely Keith couldn’t survive that much blood being lost?

“Pidge, didn’t you smuggle some things in here?” Sven asked, turning to him desperately. Pidge nodded, reaching into his pockets and his hair for something. 

“Gauze!” Pidge threw the roll of gauze to his best friend, watching as they patched him up. He felt Lance’s hands on his shoulders, trying to reassure him, but all Pidge could see was red, everywhere. 

Usually, red would be a good thing. Red was the color of their commander, of leadership, of friendship. 

Now, red was the color of Keith’s death.


	5. Gunpoint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're delving into the VF rewrite verse now. A little rewrite on the Manset confrontation.
> 
> Warnings: canon-typical depictions of violence, off-screen murder, graphic depictions of sketchy medical practices

Keith slipped through the streets, careful not to let anyone see him. A cloak covered his shoulders and head, covering his face in shadow. Even still, he needed to be careful. 

He had a contact here, a fellow by the name of Manset. The meeting’s set on the Pheka Station, a hive of scumbags and fugitives. Perfect for a place for two criminals to meet without being seen by the Alliance. 

He slipped into an alleyway, stepping carefully into the light across from Manset. The four armed alien was suspicious, but a lead was a lead, and it was at least worth checking out. 

“Alright, we need to make this quick,” Keith said, letting his face show just enough so that Manset knew it was him. “Give me the location, and I’ll give you the rest of the money.” 

“Well, there’s been a change in plans.” Keith was about to say something, before he heard footsteps and the quiet click of a gun, feeling the barrel pressing the back of his head. 

Keith gritted his teeth, subtly reaching for the blaster strapped to his leg. “Manset, I paid you good money for that location-” 

“Yes, well, unfortunately, some people are willing to pay more money for **your** location.” Manset gestured, and four more people stepped out of the shadows. “And drop the gun, you wouldn’t be able to move fast enough to use it.” 

Keith sighed, raising his arms up, silently weighing his options. _There’s one thing I can do, but that would break the seal holding back the Haggarium, and I would need to redo it afterwards. But it looks like there’s nothing else I can do._

“Alright,” Keith said, closing his eyes and getting the attention of Manset. “This is going to be your one chance. Drop the guns and give me the location, and I’ll let you live.” 

Manset laughed. “You’re not in the position to make demands, Kogane. You’re coming with us, dead or alive.” 

Keith huffed. “I warned you.” He opened his eyes, solid gold with a black slit pupil, and the last thing he remembered were startled shouting and black fur going up his arms before he lost himself to the lion. 

* * *

When Keith woke up, he was in his shuttle, laying on his back. He groaned, rolling over as he registered a pain in his leg. _Grazed leg, probably shot while I had gone full were-lion._ He was covered in blood, mostly other people’s blood. 

He pulled himself up, limping over to a mirror. His eyes were still gold, so he closed his eyes and opened them. When he did, they had turned back to normal. The bottom half of his face was covered in blood, as well as his hands and feet. And the Haggarium…

 _Shit._ The seal he had placed was broken, the marking smaller than it should be. _Because the rest of it is in my body._

He pulled off his right glove, taking out a knife and pressing it to his skin. He re-traced the sigil and muttered the incantation under his breath, sealing the Haggarium back into his hand. 

He wrapped his arm in gauze mechanically, letting muscle memory kick in. He also wrapped his leg, so that he didn’t bleed out onto the shuttle. Not that he was in too much danger of that. The shuttle was already covered in other people’s blood anyways. 

He leaned back onto the counter, looking at himself in the mirror again. He was trembling ever so slightly, as the adrenaline slowly wore off. _Or it could be the fact that I killed who knows how many people- No, stop it._

Keith pulled off his suit and stepped into the shower, ignoring the trembling of his hands and the voice in the back of his head that whispered to him. 

_“Murderer.”_


	6. Dragged Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter this time. Enjoy.
> 
> Warnings: the usual violence

Keith ran, ducking from one alley to another, keeping to the shadows. He could hear his pursuers behind him, next to the pounding of his own heart.

He couldn't think about anything, all he could think about was what's in front of him and how to get away-

He yelped as he fell forward, something wrapped around his ankle. He scrabbled for purchase, his fingers bleeding as he was slowly dragged backwards. 

He felt hands grab his hair, pulling his head up. He growled at whoever grabbed him, reaching down into his cloak and pulling out his gun. 

The hand in his hair let go, and he fell back down, as someone pried the bloody weapon out of his hand. He struggled as best as he could, but he couldn’t stop them tying his hands behind his back. 

He kept kicking his legs, but the Drule soldier started kicking him in the stomach. After a few times, when Keith started coughing up blood, he stopped, and they managed to cuff his legs too. 

“I told you, once you get him down on the ground, he’s just like the others,” a Drule growled, and Keith was grabbed by the hair again. They started dragging him away by the hair, leaving him to only grit his teeth and try to ignore the pain. 

The only trace of him left was the trail of blood on the ground.


	7. Isolation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Vague description of torture, implied/referenced rape/non-con, description of solitary confinement, description of a mental breakdown.
> 
> This is a follow up to Dragged Away.

__

_Drip, drip, drip._

Keith curled up, his back against the wall as he tried desperately to put pressure on his wounds and somehow make them better. The whip lashes in his back bled onto the floor, the cold sinking into his bones. 

_Drip, drip, drip._

They were trying to break him, to make him give them information. Keith refused to spill, which was why his back looks like five years of tic tac toe. He’d rather die than give up information that could kill his family. 

_Drip, drip, drip._

They weren’t just torturing him. Lotor was spending “quality time” with him, seemingly just for sick kicks. Keith could never escape the feeling of dirt underneath his skin, or the bite scar on his shoulder. 

_Drip, drip, drip._

He’s been here for three months now. He tries not to lose hope, but his chance to escape capture lowers by the day. In order to break him more, they’ve put him into solitary confinement for a week. He was pretty sure that he’s been there for only a few hours, but it felt like an eternity already.

_Drip, drip, drip._

He was thinking too much. Memories, dark ones, were tugging on the edges of his mind. He kept thinking about escaping, or time, or what happened to him, or what happened to his family. The only thing that was keeping him relatively sane was the water dripping from the ceiling. 

_Drip, drip, drip._

_Drip, drip, drip._


	8. Stab Wound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: semi-graphic description of injury, Lotor being an asshole

Keith gripped the gun in his hand, the wind whipping his hair around as he stood on the bridge. It was the middle of the night, and Lotor was trying to launch a sneak attack on the castle. He stood on the bridge over the moat to the Castle of Lions, blocking the way for Lotor to get in. He would not let Lotor get near his friends. 

His other hand rested on the sword sheathed at his side, while Lotor had his sword out. But Keith held a gun and the upper advantage.

(Well, hopefully the upper advantage. The fact that he might be running on only three hours of sleep in the past week and a triple shot espresso mixed with wine and Red Bull might not be helping much.)

“Why are you here, Lotor?” Keith said, his finger definitely not twitching while it was pointed at Lotor, no really.

Lotor grinned, pointing his sword at Keith. “I’m here to capture you and all your friends, and take Allura as my wife.” 

Keith glared, shifting further into his fighting stance. “I’m not going to let that happen.” 

Lotor ran forwards, as Keith kept missing him as he zig-zagged (he wasn’t a shooting prodigy like Lance was, alright). Eventually, Keith just dropped the gun in frustration, pulling out his sword just in time to meet Lotor’s blade. 

Lotor was, quite frankly, pathetic. His swings were wide arcs which Keith easily parried, and Keith was able to start getting jabs in, forcing Lotor on the defensive instead. He started pushing Lotor away from the Castle, remaining light on his feet and free of nicks. 

Lotor swung, and Keith moved to block it. Lotor had put his weight behind it, locking the two swords in place and turning into a contest of strength. Keith was winning, but Lotor grinned, which was never a good thing-

Keith gasped as white hot pain erupted in his stomach, and he dropped his sword, falling to the floor as the blade slid out of his back. Blood was already pooling on the bridge, and he was pushed onto his back by Lotor’s boot. 

Keith mustered up as menacing a glare as he could, despite the fact that he was laying in a pool of his own blood with Lotor’s boot on his chest. 

“Haggar, I wanted to capture him, not kill him,” Lotor grumbled, glaring at the witch. 

“Well, you should’ve been the one to stab him, then,” Haggar scoffed, cutting off a small lock of Keith’s hair for some reason. “Anyways, it doesn’t matter if he dies. You can capture the rest of them.” 

“I suppose,” Lotor huffed, then grinned down at the man under his boot. He got up, then kicked Keith hard in the stomach, laughing at his pain. 

That’s all Keith remembered when he started to black out. The pain in his stomach and their laughter.


	9. Shackled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VF Rewrite verse. Buckle up folks, it gets dark.
> 
> Warnings: graphic description of injuries, a lot of blood, electrocution, suicidal thoughts, past non-con, non-con touching, non-con kissing, Lotor being a general douche

Keith knelt on the floor, his wrists and ankles shackled to the floor. The pulling had already cut his wrists, and blood was already covering the shackles. The pain was starting to make him light-headed. But he wasn’t the type to pull on his restraints, at least not til it was bleeding-

_CRACKLE!_

__

Keith grit his teeth as he was shocked, his muscles jerking against the steel currently holding him to the floor. That was why his wrists were bleeding. 

He sagged back to the floor when the electricity finished its course. His torturer lifted his head with the baton, a sinister smile greeting him. 

“Kogane,” she hissed, pronouncing his name wrong like every drule. “Just tell me what I want to know, and the shocks stop.” 

He narrowed his eyes at her, then spat directly in her face. 

She snarled, jabbing the baton into his chest and cranking up the electricity. He thrashed again, and when he slumped, she grabbed his hair and lifted his head back up. 

“How do the lions work?!” She hissed, clearly growing frustrated. “What are their machinations?! Answer me, worm!” 

Keith glared at her, his gaze of steel. “To do so would be to kill my family, and I’d rather die.” 

She growled, cranking up the baton and striking him again. White hot pain shot through him, and he crumpled in on himself as he let out a muted scream. He felt a hand around his neck, and braced himself for another shock-

“Nazla, stop,” a voice said, and despite the temporary reprieve, Keith shuddered. 

Lotor stepped into the chamber, and the torturer growled but stepped aside. “He’s not useful to us if he’s dead,” he continued, while running his fingers through Keith’s hair. “You’re dismissed for today.” 

She bowed and left. “What do you want?” Keith spat, trying not to puke at the feeling of Lotor’s hands on his face. 

“I think you know,” he purred, and Keith shuddered. Lotor grabbed Keith’s hair and moved him closer

_CRACK!_

Lotor staggered back, blood dripping out of his nose from Keith’s headbutt. “You bastard!” He snarled, smacking Keith across the face. His face stung, but being smacked was better than being electrocuted. 

Lotor grabbed Keith’s face, and blood splattered onto the floor as he thrashed to try to escape. The metal bit into his wrists as Lotor pressed a deep kiss onto Keith. 

Keith squeezed his eyes shut, trying to lean back as far as he could away from him. He tensed up, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Lotor pulled back, then stood up, walking back to the doorway. “I have a meeting. But I’ll be back tonight for a special visit, Kogane.” 

When the door shut, Keith promptly took the opportunity to puke his guts up and try to get rid of the awful feeling in his stomach. He knows what Lotor’s ‘special visits’ entail (nothing good), and while he appreciated the reprieve from being electrocuted, a ‘special visit’ was the last thing he wanted. 

His face still stung, but it hurt less than the kiss that lingered on his lips. He was still bleeding out onto the floor, and the lack of blood was starting to make him light headed. He was too important for them to let him die, so the idea of letting himself close his ideas and possibly forget whatever’s gonna happen next was appealing. 

But he did wish they would just let him die. The longer he’s alive, the greater the chance of him breaking and saying something that could doom his family. He can’t do that if he was dead. 

His only regret was that he couldn’t find any leads on the Black Lion to pass onto the others.

He closed his eyes and leaned back, muttering something under his breath that he wouldn’t remember when he woke up and succumbing to the darkness.

_“I’m sorry, Lance.”_


	10. Unconcious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still in the VF Rewrite verse, this time with an OC that's not specific to the rewrite, but makes more sense if you read the rewrite.
> 
> Warnings: graphic description of injuries

Iris wheezed, her arms hooked under her father’s arms. She was dragging the unconscious body of her father across the bridge, and she just hoped she could make it in time. 

The trail of blood following them on the bridge was not reassuring. 

“つかまっている, パパ,” Iris started babbling, not registering the tears starting to run down her face. “滞在, お願いします, あなたが必要です!” 

All she could hear was the whistling of the wind and the sounds of the fighting far away. Her wings beat to try to give her some more momentum as she struggled, her heart pounding in terror. It was only her, and her father, who was slowly bleeding out from the wound in his side. 

Pain shot up her leg, and she yelped as she fell over, her ankle twisting. Her ankle throbbed in pain, her wings pinned underneath her weight, and her father was still bleeding out. 

Iris shouted in frustration, pulling her father close and burying her face in his hair, letting the sobs out. She didn’t want to lose her father again, not after just getting him back. 

She could hear footsteps approaching and just held him tighter, hoping that whoever it was was there to help them and not kill them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The japanese translation, for those who need it:
> 
> "Hold on, dad. Stay, please, we need you!"


	11. Stitches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> VF rewrite verse again, while Keith's on the run.
> 
> Warnings: dubious medical practices, graphic description of injuries

Keith shuddered, his back to the cold steel as he hid in the warehouse. His butt was firmly planted on the steel beam forty feet in the air, well hidden from anyone who would be looking. 

Blood dripped down from his arm, from the fight he had earlier after escaping some mercenaries who recognized him. The gash was too deep to just wrap gauze over, so he’d need to put in stitches. 

“Where are you, you son of a bitch?!” Keith froze at the voice, holding his breath as he heard footsteps underneath him. He let it out when the footsteps left the room, gritting his teeth and pulling out his thread. 

_I’m going to need to get this over with before they find me._ He thread the needle, delicately tying the knot even with his shaking hands. _Thank god adrenaline is a hell of a drug._

He slipped the needle into his skin, only feeling the odd sensation of his skin being pierced. Blood covered the thread as he worked, his movements mechanical yet shaky. 

When he pulled the stitch together, the blood spurted, and Keith was only thankful that it was relatively quiet. Blood still covered his arm, and the stitch looked very ugly. 

“I heard something in here!” Keith froze, as footsteps slowly passed underneath him. He could see the rays of the lights below, which were thankfully restrained to floor level. They stopped around the pool of blood directly below him, but continued to move around, no one thinking of looking up. 

_To be fair, it shouldn’t be possible for any normal human to be able to get up here. But I’m not normal, am I?_

Shaking his head off those thoughts in order to focus on the blood covering his arm, he slowly and quietly pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol, using his cloak to wipe off the blood as best as he could. His heart pounded as he wiped the alcohol into the stitch, ignoring the burn in his arm as he wrapped gauze around it and pulled his sleeve up. 

It was one twitch of his arm that doomed him. 

_CRACK!_

His bottle of rubbing alcohol fell to the floor, shattering into pieces and making a very loud noise. 

Seven beams of light aimed up at the ceiling, and Keith jumped, not allowing himself to stop as lasers filled the space behind him. 

His heart pounded as he started running again, always running, never stopping. That’s his life now.

Always running.


	12. Humiliation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I realize this is out of order. No, I don't care.
> 
> (We're back in VF rewrite verse btw)
> 
> Warnings: lotor is a dick, implied/reference non/con, gore

They were on one of Lotor’s ships, in orbit around Arus. The five of them had gotten captured by one of Haggar’s traps: they claimed to have captured the cadets and held them on board, but it was a lie. Now they were all in a holding cell, arms tied behind them and stripped of their weapons. The lions were back at the castle, as they got cocky and figured they could just sneak in.

Hunk was sitting next to Pidge and just staring, as Pidge tried to get his boots off for some reason. Lance was sitting near Keith, letting the other lean on him a little. Keith seemed a little out of it. Hopefully he wasn’t sick. 

Allura snorted from the corner as Pidge failed to get his boot off again. “Why are you trying to get it off anyways?” 

“I can’t get my hands out, but I can use lockpicks with my toes,” Pidge said. 

“Isn’t one of your hands literally made of metal?” 

“My fingers may be metal, but I can’t detach them to get my handcuffs off.” 

The door opened, and Lotor entered. Everyone glared at him, and Hunk shuffled a little closer to everyone, out of habit.

“Welcome, Voltron Force,” Lotor swept his eyes over the room, a grin on his face.

“The fuck do you want now?” Allura snapped. “And where are the kids?!” 

“Now, now, patience dears.” Lotor was seemingly unfazed by the anger in his direction, striding over to Keith. He grabbed his face, stroking his cheek gently, even as Keith froze up. “Oh, I missed this.” 

“The fuck do you mean, you missed this?!” Lance snarled. “He was never yours!” 

“Oh?” Lotor raised an eyebrow, looking back down at Keith in curiosity. “They don’t know, do they?” 

“Don’t know what, exactly?” Hunk’s voice was low, and it shook with barely controlled anger. 

Lotor grinned, even wider and more unsettling than before. “Do you ever wonder where your previous commander went when he disappeared for three years? Because I know the answer.” 

Before anyone could say anything, he grabbed Keith’s hair, yanking Keith and grabbing his jacket so that the back of his neck was exposed. And there, tattooed in ink, was a Drule tattoo. 

“He was in our custody for a few years, and during that time, I made good on a few promises.” Lotor’s grin turned from just insufferable to sinister. Allura started growling, and she could hear the others growling too. Keith remained deathly still. “He was a fantastic lay, and the struggle made it all the sweeter-”

SNAP!

Allura lunged, her arms covered in fur and her claws sharp. Lotor squealed, lunging away from the deadly lioness. He slipped out the cell door, but his scent was already in her mind. She lost herself to the lion, to the desire to kill everyone who hurt her brother. 

* * *

Iris was crammed into the blue lion with the other cadets, her wings folded and her tail feathers pinned uncomfortably to make space for everyone. Ash was piloting the lion, and the others were squeezed in various spaces (CJ was on the ceiling somehow?). 

They got the report that they’d apparently been captured when they got back to the castle from their ‘adventure’ (it was obviously a Drule trap but no… we’ll go investigate just in case… stupid Daniel). That’s also when they learned that the Force had gone to go rescue them, without taking any of the lions.

They were expecting resistance when they flew out to the Drule ship in orbit. There was… nothing.

“What’s going on?” Daniel muttered.

“I don’t know, but I’m hacking into the ship to open one of the hangar doors and there’s no resistance.” Vince looked up from his laptop, his glasses gleaming. “I’m not making any attempts to hide that I’m hacking in, so someone should be trying to stop me by now.” 

It became apparent what was going on when the hangar door opened. 

The most noticeable thing was the blood that covered everything. Various Drule body parts were strewn around, as well as gashes of claws deep into the metal. The door was busted down, something heavy and angry having busted through the door.

They stayed silent, wandering through the bloody and wrecked halls of the ship, just absorbing the destruction. Yet there was nothing on the ship that could’ve done this already, unless…

“Do you- Do you think-” Vince’s voice stammered, as everyone looked at him. “Do you think the Force did this?” 

Everyone looked around. “I mean, they’re the only ones who could do this,” Ashlyn muttered. 

“Everyone else is dead,” Larmina said, pointedly avoiding looking at the dead bodies. “They’re the only ones left alive on board.” 

“They wouldn’t do this!” Iris shouted, making the others jump. “Something bad- really bad must’ve happened!”

“Well, let’s go ask them then,” Daniel said. “I’m sure they wouldn’t hurt us.”

They looked at each other, but no one had a better idea, so they went to go find the Voltron Force. 

The cell was small and dim, with pieces of metal littering the ground. The knights were curled up on the ground in a giant group hug, with Keith in the center, and covered in blood and tears. 

Yet what most stood out was the severed head of Lotor on the floor.


	13. Asphyxiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We took a short break, but we're back with the whumptober prompts. 
> 
> I had Hunk be Keith's buddy this time because Hunk deserves more time to shine.
> 
> Trigger Warning: description of choking

Keith bolted through the castle, his gun out and his pilot suit still on. They had been out on patrol when the Castle alarm blared through the comms. He hoped they made it back in time. 

He hid behind a corner, hearing a Drule wandering the halls he was about to barge into. _“Capture the Voltron Force,”_ Lotor’s voice echoed over the comms. _“Kill anyone else in your way.”_

Keith hoisted his gun, stepping out and firing. It skidded on the gauntlets of the Drule, who looked like he was an officer, since he had better armor. Keith grit his teeth, continuing to fire. 

The Drule officer eventually fell after a shot to the head, and Keith allowed him a moment to pause. He tensed up when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, he swivelled behind him and-

Fingers were being dug into his neck, hands squeezing the air out of him tightly. He gasped, fingers scrambling desperately against the armored gauntlets, legs desperately kicking for any purchase. His throat burned and black spots swirled around his eyes, and he could feel himself lifted off the ground-

There was a bright flash of red, and Keith crumpled, falling onto the ground and gasping for breath. His hands shook, as he wheezed for breath. 

He could feel someone place a hand on his shoulder (too close to his neck) and he flinched violently, jumping around. Hunk was standing there, his hand still outstretched and his eyes wide.

“You good man?” Hunk asked, even when it was clear that Keith was clearly _not_ okay. 

Keith coughed as he tried to clear his throat. “Yeah-” his voice was rough, “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

Hunk raised an eyebrow, but offered a hand. Keith gratefully took it, grabbing his helmet and pistol off of the ground. He pushed aside his feelings (he could deal with the baggage that this was inevitably gonna cause later) and readied his weapon. It’s time to do his job. 


	14. Abandoned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm never going to add a new chapter in order ever again, just for the record. Also, two in one night?! A miracle!
> 
> This is a continuation of Explosion. Trigger warnings for graphic description of injuries, vague suicidal ideation, and a lot of talk about death. Also another ambiguous ending.

Keith was on his knees, and he shook, struggling to hold himself up. It was understandable, the blood coating his suit from the shrapnel piece in his stomach. He could hear some fighting in the distance, but it sounded muffled to his ears. He could hear the licking of the flames, the blood dripping onto the ground crystal clearly. 

His body gave one final shudder, before he fell to the ground, a stab of pain running through him as he hit the ground. Blood stains the ground around him, and he didn’t have the energy to get up, get off the ground, call for help. 

He was alone with his thoughts. The pain had faded to a dull throbbing throughout his body, so he couldn’t focus on that. All he had was the knowledge that he was going to die. 

That’s why he had sent Pidge off. Not to go get help, although that would be appreciated. The kid had already been through so much, he didn’t want Pidge to watch him die. 

It hit him. He was going to die. There was nothing he could do to change that fact. And strangely, he was okay with it. It seemed that almost everything was out to kill him nowadays. The GG, the Drule, whatever random shit gets thrown at them. His own brain. 

He’s plagued every night by the memories of what he’s gone through. Scars littered his body for proof. His only solace was his brothers and sister in arms, but even that was slowly waning as he threw himself into his work to cope. Honestly, with the amount of coffee and Redbulls he drank, if something else didn’t kill him that probably would. 

Keith closed his eyes, letting a content smile rest on his face. If he’s gonna die, at least he’ll die knowing that it’s not Pidge in his place. Knowing that he’s leaving the world a better place than he entered it.


End file.
